The effect of COVID-19 on the gender employment gap in egyptian manufacturing

This paper examines the evolution of the gender employment gap post COVID-19 in the Egyptian manufacturing sector, using a unique firm-level data set. The findings show that the COVID-19 shock led to a slight improvement in the gender employment gap, both in absolute and relative terms, driven by a larger reduction in male employment compared to that for female employment. The heterogeneity analysis shows that exporting firms and firms in industrial zones on average increased both types of employment post COVID-19. Two types of firms contributed to a worsening of the gender gap, namely firms that adopted technology and those that provided worker training prior to the pandemic, pushing male employment up while not doing the same for female employment. Additionally, the informal sector contributed to a worsening of the gender gap during the pandemic